New Favorite Thing: The Splendid Table

Do you know about The Splendid Table? Have you heard the brilliant public radio musings of Ms. Lynne Rossetto Kasper? If you love to cook -- or love to eat -- please stop what you're doing, fire up iTunes, and download every single podcast. Then go to the website and read everything. Then get off your ass, go to Borders, and buy "How to Eat Supper."

I feel like I just discovered the New World.

Apparently the New World has been on the air since 1997 and nobody told me about it. I'd like to have the past 11 years back, please, so I can start over. Instead, I'm jamming my iPod full of past episodes and scouring the website for something I may have missed.

What makes The Splendid Table so great? Might as well ask why the sky is blue and why puppies are cute.

Just listen to some of the topics of recent broadcasts:

"Spices and the Medieval Imagination"
"The Cheese Nun"
"Bananas and Politics"
"Molecular Gastronomy"
and my all-time favorite...."The United States of Arugula"

Each episode is a 50-minute-long exploration of the lead topic, along with side excursions into what makes New York hot dogs so good or how to make pasta like the women from Emilia-Romagna. For anyone who truly loves food and cooking, The Splendid Table is an audio version of the greatest encylclopedia around.

Speaking of books, Lynne recently published a book called "How to Eat Supper." I bought it yesterday so can't really comment on it, but if her show provides any indication of the quality of the book, everyone I know will be getting a copy for Christmas.

Seriously -- check it out. It's really wonderful stuff.

Meet Annabelle!

(I think her name has an "e" on the end...)

Last night, at some point between Texas hold 'em, gin rummy, several trips to the cool vending machine with pizza and macaroni and cheese, and Michael Phelps winning another gold medal, Sarah and Brandon had a baby. Her name is Annabelle, and she is beautiful.

The night was full of great moments (which I hope Mark, Emily, Kelly and Brian will share) but the one that sticks out in my mind is the moment when The Big Cat (Brandon -- he's like 6'6") looked at all of us while he was holding teeny Annabelle in his huge arms and said "Hey! This is my daughter!" It is a new day, indeed.

"We" are having a baby today!!!

I am fortunate enough to have a core group of friends who live nearby, and over the past year or so we've spent a lot of time together and have grown very close. It is a rare week when someone isn't over for dinner, or when we're not somehow spepnding time together. Getting to know Brian & Emily, Brandon & Sarah and Kelly & Steve has been one of the most joyous experiences of my adulthood. I truly adore them all.

Today, Sarah is having a baby, the first baby for this group, and it feels like we're all having it with her! We have taken bets on her due date, have created the water-in-a-martini-glass "Sarahtini," attempted to guess the baby's name, and watched her belly grow over the past 9 months. And today is the day we've all been waiting for! If she had only waited another 10 or 12 hours before going into labor, we would have successfully carried out our Baby Tailgate in the hospital parking lot. Oh well...

A bit about Sarah. She is one of those people who was born to be a mom. She is the kindest, friendliest, gentlest person I know and she's going to be a spectacular parent. Her husband Brandon is going to be one of those dads who believes the world revolves around his girls - Sarah and their new baby.

While the new addition to our little family surely will change our regular routine of weeknight wine drinking and garage hockey, I can't help but think how amazing our new routine of caring for Sarah and Brandon's new little girl will be!

The Cost of Working

So.....I made a major mistake today by calculating the cost of my commute from Anne Arundel County to Washington, D.C. Each month, between gas, parking and car payment, I shell out $840 JUST TO GO TO WORK. I feel ill.

Granted, the decision to drive to work rather than take public transportation is one I made conciously. I absolutely despise the two modes of transportation I would have to take into the city - the MARC train and the Metro. Both are depressing, unreliable and sweltering in the summer and damp and stinky the rest of the time. And undoubtedly crowded now that gas prices are so high. So yes - I would rather be in my own car, with the temperature at a comfortable level and the ambient noise selected by me, than jammed into a tin can during what ultimately is the same travel time.

But $840?!? That's almost $900! And THAT'S almost a grand! And that doesn't even take into account the cost of dressing for a professional work environment. Everyone laughs at me for shopping at Marshall's and Ann Taylor (sales only!) but is there an alternative?

I don't go out to eat as much, don't collect wine like I used to, and have cut back on traveling for pleasure. Sure, these are minimal sacrifices when you consider some people have to choose between filling up their gas tanks or putting food on the table. But they're my sacrifices and I am still allowed to bitch about them.

Back to the transportation -- the logical alternative would be to move closer to work. Right? The problem there is that I own a home, and now isn't exactly the best time to sell, especially if you've owned your home for less than 5 years, which I have. And anything worth considering in D.C. is upwards of $500,000. So....looks like I'm going to stick with the commute. But I am still going to bitch about it!